Be Mine!

It's Valentine's Day? Already??

Didn't we just celebrate the Holidays? Where is the time going, will someone please tell me? I have about ten recipes that I wanted to try for Valentine's Day, but I totally caved and settled for the easiest one.

Cake. Ball. Heart. Pops.

What else should I call them? Heart Pops? Cake Hearts? Whatever you call them..........they are good. I took the long way around on this one. I realize that I should have could have used brownies, but I was halfway through the recipe when I thought of it. In the end...........I think that both work just as well.

I'll admit it. I cheated and used a box cake mix. Horrors! Let's face it, when it comes to Cakeballs, it's just easier to use Duncan Hines. I baked the cake on a sheet pan, so it only took about 15 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees. Did you know that?? If you use a sheet pan, you can have cake in 15 minutes. At any time of day or night. This is NOT what a Weight Watcher wants or needs to hear.

Anyway, after beating up the mix, I poured it onto a greased sheet pan. I used Crisco because I was out of cooking spray. Please don't report me.

When it's finished, let it cool and break it all up into a mixing bowl. I use about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of buttercream frosting to mix in. You really need a mixer to do this, otherwise you'll be beating it until Christmas.

Hey! Then you could make Christmas Cake Pops!

I ended up making two separate batches of cakeballs. I made chocolate with white chocolate coating with my niece Brenna. Although she's just seven years old, she's a fabulous help in the kitchen and I would recruit her as my number one helper any day of the week.

For the Valentine Cakeball Heart Pops (giggle), I pressed a small amount of the cake and frosting mixture into a small pattie and cut out the shape with a heart shaped cookie cutter.

Good Lord, I have such sausage fingers! Why can't I have delicate hands? I've always wanted graceful hands. But I've got to face facts. These photos don't lie. I have "Man Hands". I have the hands of a Blacksmith.

"Can I shoe your horse for you today Madam?"

Then I placed them all on a waxed paper-covered sheet pan and popped it into the freezer for about two hours. I've learned that Cakeballs will dip much easier when they are frozen solid.

Then I melted red candy melts over a double boiler. I usually add a little vegetable oil to thin out the candy when it's melted. If the candy is too thick, it will be too heavy to stay on the Cakeball. Again...........learning through my mistakes. But this won't happen to you, will it....because I just told you one of my secrets for total Cakeball success.

For Cakeball Pops, I use cookie sticks as opposed to lollipop sticks. The cookie sticks are sturdier and will allow a bigger Cakeball. You can use the lollipop sticks, but the Cakeball will have to be smaller and your candy coating will have to be very thin.

Carefully place a cookie stick into the base of each of the cake-hearts and/or Cakeballs and dip into the melted candy. I usually use a spoon to coat the Cakeball, then tap it gently on the side of the pan to let any excess drip off. Then place each stick into a styrofoam board until the candy is completely dried.

Voila! A perfect Cake. Ball. Heart. Pop.

Moses. When I'm baking, Emily is never very far away.

Lonely Hearts Club, anyone?

I can still remember my first love. I met him on the playground on the first day of first grade. His name was Ricky Beauchamp and whenever he looked at me and smiled, my heart skipped a beat because I knew it was true love. Until about a week later, in the throes of homesickness.....I threw up next to his desk.

He never looked at me the same way again.

So who was your first love?

Fini

It is finished.

Three months later I find myself just sitting in a corner chair, mouth slightly open.....drooling and staring.....at my brand new kitchen. Correction. A brand new, gorgeous kitchen. I was going to ask the Smithsonian Institute if I could donate my old 1966 poo-poo-brown formica kitchen cabinets, but they told me they have enough dinosaurs already.

Just to refresh your memory, I started out like this,

Hideous.

and after three painfully short months, I ended up with this.....

Okay. I'll say it.

It was so-o-o-o worth it.

Nothing left to do but commence baking.

Chocolate Changes

I never make New Year's Resolutions.

Mainly because any time that I have made them....I have broken them. Doesn't everyone?? Where is she going with this, you may ask. Well I am still that fudge-loving person who will sprinkle you with sugar and chocolate chips, but I'm just going to mix it up a bit now and then. Because it's fun to try something new, and I really want to be a healthier, slimmer and happier person in the coming year. I need a change.

Because change is good, right?

(Can you tell that I totally swiped this clipart from a website?)

Change is why I'm a brunette now instead of a blonde. Change is also the reason why I've decided to sell my home and downsize my life (in more ways than one) even after I've just completed this totally awesome kitchen renovation. Because when you get right down to it, despite my the beautiful, gleaming granite countertops, my the gorgeous new hardwood floors and my the stunning new stainless steel appliances......it's just a kitchen, not a lifestyle. Big changes are sometimes necessary in life. Change sometimes helps us to be better at what we do. Like the saying goes, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got".

Hmmm. I guess the same rule would apply to this new recipe I'm about to share with you. Let me preface it by saying those dreaded words that every baker and chocolate-lover hates to hear..."I'm back at Weight Watchers". Yes "again". You there in the back of the room, I heard that. So the next time I see you, please don't offer me any Hostess Twinkies or Yodels or Funny Bones, or I may just have to hit you with them. That being said, I found this Weight Watchers recipe the other day and I was curious as well as fascinated, so of course I had to whip it up and share it with you.

Since Weight Watchers uses the Point System, anything containing chocolate with a low point value is worth a second look. The name of this recipe is simply "Dark Chocolate Cake"....which is innocent enough...until you read the list of ingredients. Let's just leave it at that for now, shall we. You'll see what I mean in a minute.

First you'll need to assemble your staff.

As well as the secret "magic" ingredient.....

Yes. You are seeing this right. SAUERKRAUT.

This is one of those baking secrets that you don't want to tell your kids about.

EVER.

Start with an Angel Food Cake Pan. Then preheat the oven to 350 degrees.


Combine the flour,

Sugar,

Baking Soda,

Unsweetened Cocoa,

Melted Butter , Hot Water,

and Vanilla and combine thoroughly.

Place the sauerkraut in a food processor or in my case....a blender and puree it.

Puree it until it begs for mercy.

When it looks like applesauce,

......it's ready. Add it to your chocolate batter and beat the living daylights out of it for about 30 seconds.

That's it. You're getting the hang of it!

Spray your Angel Food Pan with non-stick cooking spray and pour in your batter.

Bake it for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

When it's finished, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool before removing the sides and the center. At this point in the baking process, the chocolate aroma was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife.....but I was still skeptical at best. How in the world could anything smell so good when it contained sauerkraut? Sauerkraut. No eggs and no oil? I was prepared for the worse.

But as you can see, I still broke out my new silver cake pedestal for the occasion. Weight Watchers would be so proud!

This cake is surprisingly moist. You can see it. Are you looking at it? And the strangest part of it all is....YOU CAN'T TASTE THE SAUERKRAUT....HONEST. It is rich and unbelievably delicious.... and I'm a tough sell when it comes to chocolate cake, believe me. If the cake is cut into 14 slices, each slice is only 4 Weight Watcher Points or about 140 calories a slice. Did you hear me fellow Weight Watchers?? I said only FOUR POINTS PER SLICE. When the cake was cooled, I promptly sliced it into 14 slices and wrapped each one in aluminum foil. Then I buried them in the backyard put them in the freezer to be eaten at a leisurely pace instead of all at one sitting. (Who me?) See how well I'm doing with my portion control? HA! Serve it with Fat Free Cool Whip and a few strawberries or raspberries and a teaspoon (or two) of chocolate sauce and you can hunker down for the night.

I did.

(And of course I added another 2 points for the fat-free milk mustache too.)

Weight Watchers Dark Chocolate Cake

You will need:

Non-stick cooking spray

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup (one stick) melted butter

1 1/2 cups hot water

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sauerkraut, pureed until smooth

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a Bundt or Angel Food pan with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and 2/3 cup of cocoa. Add melted butter, hot water and vanilla extract; mix well. Add the pureed sauerkraut and blend thoroughly. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake in center of oven until a tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Cool cake in pan for about 20 minutes and then turn out onto a baking rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder before devouring slicing.

Sauerkraut. Can you believe it? Who knew that a brine-soaked cabbage mixed into a rich chocolate batter, would bake into such a moist and delicious cake? Hmmmmm. Still a doubter? I dare you to try it.

But fasten your "chocolate" seatbelt.....

...and don't say I didn't warn you.